Wednesday 17 February 2010 20.39 EST
First published on Wednesday 17 February 2010 20.39 EST

Barack Obama is to go ahead with talks with the Dalai Lama at the White House today and risk inflicting more damage on the already strained relations between the US and China.

The Tibetan leader flew into Washington from India yesterday for the start of a 10-day US tour, which coincides with serious rows over the proposed US sale of military equipment to Taiwan and the US-China trade imbalance.

While rejecting a Chinese call to cancel the meeting, the White House offered the conciliatory gesture of making the talks low-profile.

The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said yesterday only an official photograph would be issued afterwards, suggesting that there would be none of the usual televised footage of the initial exchanges between the president and his visitor.

In a further gesture to China, the White House stressed that the Dalai Lama was being greeted as Tibet's spiritual leader, rather than as head of state or political leader and that the meeting was private, to be held in the Map Room rather than the more official Oval Office.

The Dalai Lama is also to meet the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. A state department spokesman, Mark Toner, yesterday emphasised the meeting was on the basis of his religious and cultural standing rather than as a political leader.

"The Dalai Lama is a Nobel peace prize laureate, internationally revered religious and cultural leader and the secretary will meet him in this capacity as recent secretaries of state have done," Toner said.

China has hinted at reprisals, as it has done against other countries whose leaders have met the Dalai Lama, and threatened to suspend military exchanges.

But there were signs yesterday that China may have decided the deterioration in relations is in danger of getting out of hand. There had been speculation that it would deny entry to Hong Kong to the carrier USS Nimitz but it docked as planned yesterday.

The only blip came when officers from the People's Liberation Army, stationed in Hong Kong, failed to respond to an invitation to attend a reception with US navy officers aboard the carrier.

Its commander, Rear Admiral John Miller, played down tensions and described the Hong Kong visit as routine. "We had a request pending, and about a week or so ago it was approved and we've been on our way ever since," he told reporters aboard the ship, which had sailed from Malaysia.

If China does decide to retaliate, it could choose to suspend further planned military exchanges or postpone a visit to the United States by the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, that had been pencilled in for April.

The Dalai Lama, 74, who left his home in Dharamsala, in the foothills of the Himalayas, on Tuesday for New Delhi, has been described by Beijing as "a wolf in monk's clothing".

The Tibetan leader visited the US twice last year but Obama refused to see him, explaining that he first wanted to visit China, which he did in November. Obama sent one of his closest advisers, Valerie Jarrett, to Dharamsala late last year to set up today's meeting.

The Dalai Lama's spokesman, Tenzin Taklha, said that no matter what China said, it cared about international opinion and the important thing was that the American meeting was taking place, sending a signal to Beijing to work with the Tibetan leaders.

The Dalai Lama will brief Obama on talks that have been held since 2008 between Tibetan leaders and Beijing, which have so far produced no results. Beijing claims the Dalai Lama backs independence for Tibet, while he says he favours only greater autonomy.

Foreign affairs analysts in Washington are divided over whether Obama should have gone ahead with the meeting when relations between the US and China are so difficult.

Steve Clemons, of Washington's New America Foundation, said: "I do not think it should have gone ahead. While it would have been hard for human rights activists, we did not do the prep work. It looks like a punitive act.

"I would want him to meet him but this is the wrong time, with a stack-up of issues. I think it is a mistake."

China has frustrated Obama by refusing so far to join other members of the United Nations security council in supporting sanctions against Iran.

A small trade war between Denmark and China started in May last year after a Danish meeting with the Dalai Lama.